After a gruesome hit that saw Ottawa Senators forward Scott Sabourin get knocked unconscious and fall face first into the ice after colliding with Boston Bruins forward David Backes, the Senators got some good news. Sabourin, who laid motionless for an extended period of time, gave a thumbs up to fans as he was carted off the ice (video here).
The Senators then followed up with a statement (via Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch):
“Scott Sabourin was transported to local hospital by ambulance for evaluation. He was conscious and speaking with the attending doctors at the time of leaving the arena.”
Backes, may also have been injured on the play when both attempted to hit each other during the incident. After staying with Sabourin while he was down on the ice, Backes went to the locker room and didn’t return. The Bruins later announced he would not return. Backes, who has an concussion history, may have suffered another one.
- After an impressive season last year in which he tallied 17 goals and 60 points, few people would have expected Chicago Blackhawks’ defenseman Erik Gustafsson to be a healthy scratch this year, but head coach Jeremy Colliton said that Gustafsson will be in the press box Saturday as he has struggled finding his game so far this year. The 27-year-old blueliner has four assists in 11 games, but hasn’t been the top-four defenseman the team was hoping for. “We think he can be better,” said Colliton (via The Athletic’s Scott Powers). Sometimes coming out of the lineup can be the spark. … We think he can be better in both areas (offense & defense). He’ll get feedback and it’s up to him to respond.”
- Sean Shapiro of The Athletic reports that Dallas Stars defenseman Andrej Sekera is closing in on a return. The veteran blueliner, out with an undisclosed injury, skated Saturday, but head coach Jim Montgomery said he wasn’t sure if Sekera would be ready to go on Tuesday. Sekera has appeared in 13 games for Dallas this year, averaging 20:36 of ATOI.
- The Mercury News’ Curtis Palshelka reports that San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer stated that forward Jonny Brodzinski is out Saturday and likely will be out for some time after suffering a shoulder injury. The scribe also notes that the injury is not the same shoulder that held him out for most of the 2018-19 season. Pashelka adds that defenseman Radim Simek is expected to play in another AHL game with the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday with the hopes that he might return to the Sharks soon after that.
Sabourin and Backes didn’t try to hit each other. Sabourin skated in to deliver a clean hit. Backes saw it coming & braced himself. The two collided and Sabourin’s neck whipped back in a way the neck isn’t supposed to whip. He then fell and hit his head on the ice. It was a scary situation
Agreed. I believe their heads hit during the hit. That is what I saw when I watched the game last night
It looks like Sabs has avoided serious injury. Thank God for that that was a scary thing to watch.
Being concerned for Backes health, he should think about retirement. Too many hits to his head. Some point you have to think about your future health.
It’d be a win-win. He gets to live past age 50 and the B’s can afford to resign Coyle and Krug…